Despite having both Ollie Watkins and Jhon Duran to call on, Aston Villa are now reportedly eyeing a move to sign a £25m striker who's outscored both of Unai Emery's star men so far this season.
Aston Villa transfer news
Sat seventh in the Premier League, Aston Villa's season is yet to hit the heights of the last campaign but that's not to say that they've endured a complete disaster this time around. Attempting to balance Champions League football for the first time in forever, the Villans have enjoyed victories against the likes of Bayern Munich and RB Leipzig as well as a well-earned draw against Italian giants Juventus.
On the Premier League side of things though, there is room for improvement after a dramatic 2-1 defeat at the hands of Nottingham Forest last time out. A result of that manner just days after a Champions League victory suggests that the Villans need to return to the market for some much-needed squad depth in 2025. And that could see yet another talented forward arrive.
Ross-Barkley-Aston-Villa-Leon-Bailey Related
Aston Villa interested in signing £30m player with same agent as Barkley
Aston Villa are in the race to sign a player who is struggling for regular minutes.
According to Graeme Bailey for The Boot Room, Aston Villa are now eyeing Manfred Ugalde from Spartak Moscow. The impressive 22-year-old reportedly has a release clause of just £25m and has attracted the interest of Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City and Nottingham Forest alongside Aston Villa as a result.
It shouldn't come as too great a shock that Ugalde is beginning to steal the headlines, either. After all, the Spartak Moscow star has scored an incredible 15 goals in 18 Russian Premier League games so far this season in a record that not many can match throughout Europe.
"Relentless" Ugalde could hand Emery selection headache
Whilst Aston Villa remain one of the richest teams in the Premier League when it comes to star strikers, with both Watkins and Duran to choose from, a side gunning for the top four can arguably never have too many goalscorers. And that could yet open the door for one more option to emerge and hand Emery the ultimate selection headache.
Manfred Ugalde-1
If handing Watkins the starting role over Duran has been difficult enough, then the arrival of Ugalde would provide Emery with another task entirely. With all three to choose from, the Villans would undoubtedly have one of the best selection of strikers in the Premier League.
League stats 24/25 (via FBref) Manfred Ugalde Ollie Watkins Jhon Duran
Games 18 16 16
Goals 15 7 6
Assists 2 3 0
Minutes 1,433 1,126 492
At the centre of praise as a result of his goalscoring exploits both at FC Twente and now at Spartak Moscow, analyst Ben Mattinson dubbed the forward "relentless" at the start of the year and he's only maintained that level ever since.
Of course, there are other positions that Aston Villa must strengthen, but that may not stand in the way of one more goalscorer joining their ranks and combining with both Watkins and Duran.